Perhaps I was always destined to be a writer. From an early age I could be found, squirreling away my secrets in a diary or a journal, or any old notebook i could get my hands on. I liked to write things down, and in particular I liked to write my events and feelings down. My dairies number many , although sadly I have obviously trashed a few of my teenage ones. Maybe it’s for the best!

Today sees the start of the Olympic Games in London, and if you are there, you might want to record it all down in one of the Official Olympic Games Diaries, made by Letts. My big cousin worked for Letts for some time (the factory is in Dalkeith, my mum’s home town), and we used to always get diaries from him at Christmas.

If I could find my 1986 diary, I am pretty sure one page would read like this.

“Went to the Commonwealth Games with Jill today. Poured rain but we stayed, and when everyone else left – including mum and dad – we go to move right down to the front where we were watching the decathletes doing the pole vault. Simon Poelman from New Zealand is totally gorgeous. Daley Thompson is ace. We got them to come over and sign our programmes and took loads of photos of them. The Canadian Dave something is really handsome too. Was a fab day. Mum and dad left us all the picnic as well and we sat in the rain and ate it.”

Write it down…Olympic Tourist Icon Notebook A5 , £7.99, Letts

My dad’s a runner, so many of my childhood memories are centred around running, running events, and suchlike. The Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986 had little of the pomp and ceremony, glitz and glamour of London 2012. But it was a brilliant thing to be at, despite the pouring rain, and I am pretty sure my 1986 diary was full of the wonderful memories of it. And pictures of Simon Poelman, of course.